[Foxsquirrel]

I was just wanting to know. If you have a new queen and she is boxed for a week, inside the hive and doesn't get out of the box should you release her. Second if you do release her, on top of the frames, and she flies off does she ever return to the hive?
My Russian Queen did just that I release her on the top of the hive frames and she litt off. I have not seen her since. I guess I need to reinspect the hive in couple of days and see if she has returned. No local evidence of swarming either. What do you guys think?

 

[bjerm2]

Not good.
They have been known to come back. Did the workers cling onto the cage bitting it? Did you take a look earlier to see if there were queen cells or another queen?
If either situation was happening then when-if she comes back she will be killed. If that was not happening then keep your fingers crossed and check in 3-4 days to see if she is there or if they have a new queen.
What I do if the queen after about 6 days is still in the cage I take the cork out and close up the hive with her still in the cage hanging between the frames. She will step out and be inside the hive and not be scared.
Dan

 

[Foxsquirrel]

Thanks for the reply. My workers were all over the queen cage, but they were not getting the job done of getting the candy stopper out of the way. I just removed the staple that held down the screen. I then laid the cage on its side and the queen walked out of the cage but then flew off. She circled the hive twice and then took off thru the woods. I will reinspect the hive in 3 or 4 days. Thanks again for the replies....

 

[dcross]

The circling is a good sign, she should be able to find her way back.

 

[bjerm2]

Yes that is a very good sign. She was just taking a look to see where the hive is. Guess she wanted to 'stretchher wings'.
Good luck.
Dan

 

[yooper2]

I had two queens do that to me last week. I was checking a queen cage that I installed a few days earlier. I found a big ball of bees attacking the queen so I puffed a little smoke on them and she flew off so I thought that was the end of her. I put the inner cover on and then she flew into the escape hole before I could get the outer cover on. She is now doing good. But on the other hive I think there are laying workers. I looked to see if the qween was out of her cage and found her also in a ball of bees. with alot of smoke I was able to get them off of her and she flew away and came back a few minutes later. I was able to put her back into the shipping cage. I then left her for a few more days. when checking on her I found her still in the cage and it was also packed with bees and she was making a piping sound. The green paint was almost all gone. The workers must have been biting her. I just pulled the screen off the cage to let her out, but don't know if she flew off or went down into the frames. I will check in a few days.

 

[bjerm2]

My guess, yooper2,is that they have laying workers. Whey you get into that kind of situation then I would recommend using the push in cage introduction. It is fool proof in my opinion. The queen will start laying and the bees will start accepting her as a queen.
See http://members.aol.com/queenb95/QnIntroInstr.html
I hope that she is ok but the behavior of the workers attacking her is not a good sign. Let me know how your doing. I would check soon since you need to replace her and it is getting late in the season.
Dan

[This message has been edited by bjerm2 (edited August 17, 2004).]

 

[BWrangler]

Hi Guys,

When the queen flys, just stay calm and leave the hive as is. Stay where you are at, keeping the 'picture' or map of the hive area the same for the queen. Most often she will return within five minutes. Yet, she is seldom seen returning by the beekeeper.

After that close up the hive and move on.

Leave the hive along for a week. If the queen is runny, she may be killed by the bees if you inspect the hive too soon.

Regards
Dennis

 

[Michael Bush]

I figure it's a 50/50 chance. Sometimes she comes back. Sometimes you never see her again. Check back in a few days and see.

 

[Foxsquirrel]

Well the Queen has returned and is done fine. Just checked inside the hive and she is doning her dance along with the rest of the troops. I really do thank you guys for your advise and replies. It really does sometimes give comfort as to learning quickly that you did not mess up too bad.

 

[bjerm2]

Glad for you that it worked out.

Dan